Developing players to play a ‘national style’

COMPRISING two phases and five strategic core areas, the National
Football Development Plan is one of the most detailed development
blueprints produced for Malaysian football.

The number of players and coaches involved is staggering and the funding will be even more so.
The 80-page plan covers the first phase from 2014-2020 while the second phase will run up to 2030.
The first phase aims to produce junior players for the FA of
Malaysia's development programme -- the various Young Tigers teams --
and professional players for state and club sides.

The first core area involves training players according to a
"national style" -- a diamond-shaped 4-4-2 system with an emphasis on
speed, stamina, ball possession, aggression and turning defence into
attack in an instant.

It is hoped that this will develop into a unique Malaysian football
concept and do away with the ubiquitous "hit-and-run" concept favoured
by M-League teams.

Other core areas are creating "national football heroes" by building
character in players, providing proper infrastructure and equipment,
developing coaches and providing a proper competition structure at all
youth levels.

The Mokhtar Dahari National Football Academy in Gambang, which is
already home to 35 Under-12 players from the MyKids Soccer programme,
will eventually house 500 of the best junior talent in the country by
2020.

The rest will train at five national sports schools, 14 state sports
schools, 150 district training centres and Tunas Academies (for below
12) by 2020.

"This plan will ensure players aged seven to 17 from all over the
country, in every district, will get a chance to be trained at one of
the academies," said Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin in his speech
before the plan was launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in
Gambang yesterday.